I'm going to brag on myself for a moment, feel free to ignore this
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Over Memorial Day weekend Trish took a fall in the house. Her disability is slowly getting worse and worse.
She couldn't push herself up as her upper body strength is limited and my attempt to lift her just ended up bruising her. She didn't want me to call the paramedics as she was embarrassed. So I thought about various mechanical systems to help her up. My double pulley-hammock rigging wasn't quite right either.
So I went onto google and I saw this inflatable gizmo that a disabled/elderly person rolls onto and then sits on. It has four air chambers and they inflate in turn, lifting the person into a sitting position in which they can then just stand up from.
It looked like a good solution, but the problem is they wanted $1600 for it even if there was a place to get one nearby.
I then went on their website and watched a ten minute training video on its use. I then went down to Walmart and bought an $8 dollar twin air mattress, a $14 pump that runs on AC power, and a $1 tube of superglue.
I folded the mattress twice to create four layers, superglued the edges (so the mattress didn't unfold while inflating). I then got her to sit on the deflated mattress and (carefully watching her stability) turned the pump on. It raised her right up and she was able to stand and grab the arms of a chair. She got herself seated and we were back to normal.
I'm bragging on myself because for roughly $24, I built my own $1600 medical device.
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Responses:
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woo! -- nm
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Diva
Jun 8, 06:18
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that's pretty damn awesome -- nm
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decline
Jun 8, 05:36
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Nicely done! -- nm
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Krusty
Jun 8, 04:40
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That is awesome. You need to find a way to monetize this idea. -- nm
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Covington
Jun 8, 03:51
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You are a f--king McGyver. -- (edited)
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ReluctantCynic
Jun 7, 22:29
2
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You’re amazing, Crash. Eight billion more like you would be a utopian society. -- nm
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David
Jun 7, 22:20
3
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that's fantastic thinking. please give my best to Trish. It's been ages since I said hi to her. -- nm
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peglegpete
Jun 7, 22:12
1
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damn, you da man… that is impressive -- nm
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zeitgeist
Jun 7, 22:10
1
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good for you, man.
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b.
Jun 7, 22:07
1
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That's awesome and also :( nm
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ralph wiggum
Jun 7, 21:55
1
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